Snubbed truck



Sept. 14, 1954 J. J. KOWALIK 2,688,938

SNUBBED TRUCK Filed Oct. 20. 1950 3 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

p 14, 1954 J. J. KOWALIK 2,688,938

SNUBBED TRUCK Filed Oct. 20, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 14, 1954 SNUBBED TRUCK John J. Kowalik, Chicago, Ill., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago,

tion of New Jersey 111., a corpora- Application October 20, 1950, Serial No. 191,284

v 11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to railway car trucks and more particularly to a novel arrangement of friction means in a truck to control relative movements between the load-carrying truck parts and between the truck and the car body carried thereby.

A general object of the invention is to provide novel snub-bing means for controlling lateral sway of a car body through frictional resistance acting between the truck frames and the body bolsters.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide means carried by the truck bolsters for frictional engagement with the side frames, the friction means also cooperating with the body bolsters on a car body carried by the truck bolsters.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combined side bearing and spring damping means.

Another object of the invention is to arrange a side bearing to act through friction shoes engagingthe side frames to resist downward movement of the truck bolster when a load is imposed on the side bearing by movement of the car body.

The invention contemplates the provision of friction shoes at opposite sides of a truck bolster in vertical face engagement with side frame columns, the shoes being actuated by springs which also actuate a side bearing extending through the top of the truck bolster for engagement by the body bolster of a car body carried by the truck bolster whereby as the car body bolster compresses the side bearing, the friction shoes are urged under greater pressure against the side frame columns thereby increasing the resistance of the truck bolster moving downwardly.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the specification and the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section of a railway car truck incorporating one form of the invention, the section being taken substantially in the plane, indicated by the line ll of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a plan view partly in section, the section being taken substantially in the planes indicated by the line 2--2 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1, with the truck bolster partly broken away and the body bolster shown in phantom lines.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view longitudinally of the bolster and illustrating a modification of the invention;

Figure 6 is a view comparable to Figure 5 showing a further modification, the wedge and side bearing being shown in elevation; Figures 7 to 10 illustrate a further modification of the invention, Figure '7 being comparable to Figure 6, Figure 8 being a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 8--8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 being a fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Figure 10, and V Figure 10 being a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line l0l 0 of Figure 9.

Describing the invention in detail and first referring to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 through 4, the railway car truck comprises a side frame generally indicated 2 at each side thereof which is of conventional design and each side frame comprises tension and compression members 4 and 6 and spaced columns 8, B'interconnecting the tension and compression members centrally of the frame and forming a bolster opening It therewith. The tension member affords a spring seat l2 at the bottom of the bolster opening upon which are seated a plurality" of coil springs l4, [4, the upper ends of the springs bearing as at It against the underside of a bottom wall I8 of a bolster, generally indicated 20. The bolster 20 is a box section member and comprises a top wall 22 connected at opposite sides of the bolster by side walls 24, 24 to the bottom wall [8. The end portion of the bolster is formed with walls 26, 26, which converge inwardly of the bolster toward the longitudinal vertical center plane of the bolster. The walls 26; 26 merge into the outboard extremity of a substantially vertical center rib 28, which interconnects the top and bottom walls 22 and I8 of the bolster and forms pockets 29, 29 therewith at opposite sides of the bolster. Each wall 26 is V-shaped in vertical section as will be seen in Figure 1 and affords a slidable seat along its respective faces as at 30, 30 for a friction 'shoe 32, positioned within the associated pocket 29. i

The shoe preferably presents an outer vertical friction face 34 for engagement as at 36 with a wear plate 38 mounted on an adjacent column 8 in any convenient manner as by welding. Each friction shoe 32 is a hollow member of substantially triangular form in lan, as seen in Figure 2 and at its inner side affords a spring seat 40 with centrally arranged spring positioning means the outboard end of the bolster.

bear against seats 46, 4B of a spring actuator or wedge, generally indicated 48. The seats 46, 46 are at the outboard side of the wedge 48 and converge toward the plane A-A of the bolster in a direction outboardly of the bolster. The seats 46, 46 are substantially normal to the axes of the respective springs 44, 44, and the seats 40, 49 on the respective shoes 32, 32 are substantially normal to the axes of the respective springs 44, 44. I

The wedge 48 comprises a diagonal wedge face 50 (Figure 3) on its bottom side in wedge engagement with the top side of a diagonal wall 52. The face 54! and the web 52 slope downwardly in a-direction outboardly of the bolster. The Web 52 interconnectsthe top and bottom wal1s and the side Walls of the bolster. The wedge 48 is provided on the top side thereof with a diagonal wedge surface 54which slopes downwardly outboardly of the bolster, preferably at a lesser angle than its bottom surface 50. Th surface 54 is engaged by a complementary wedge surface 56 .on the. bottom end of aside bearing plunger member 58, said plunger member extending through abox 60 projectingfrom the top side of the bolster and integral with the top wall 22 thereof. The box 60 maybe of rectangular form and may comprise spaced inboard and outboard walls 62 and 64, interconnected by an end wall BG-at each end. I

The plunger member 53 fits loosely in the box 60, and through an opening, 5.8 in the top wall 22 of the bolster and on its bottom side substantially centrally thereof is formed with. a tongue (Figure 4), which extends ntoaslot 12 formed centrally in the top side of the wedge member 48. Thus the wedge member 48 is interlocked with the side. bearing member58 to maintain the parts in vertical alignment. The plunger member 58 has frictional engagement on its outboard side as at 14 with the, inner side of the outboard wall 54 ofthe box as. The upper. end of the member 58 is engaged as at 16 by the bottom end of a body bolster side bearing 18, thes'ide bearing '78 being of conventional design and suitably secured to the body bolster 8B of a car body (not shown) which is supported on the bolster in conventional manner as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Under normal conditions each side bearing 18 r loads the'side bearing plunger member 58 as seen i in Figure 3. This causes the side bearing member 58 to slide on its bottom surface 56 against the top surface 54 of the Wedge 48' in a dire'ctiontoward Thus the outboard side of the member 58 is caused to frictionally engage the inner side of the outboard the wedge as in wedging engagement with the wall 52 and with the bearing member 58. The

wall 640i the box 60. The springs 44 maintain the wearplatestfi. It will be noted that the car body: is supported by atruck at: each endand that each bolster 20 ofeach truck "carries'ateach end a friction assembly such as shown. it will be understood that clearances are provided at the king pin connections between the car body bolsters and the truck bolsters so that normally the car body may angle longitudinally and laterally. If thecar body angles longitudinally, the lower end of the car body causes the side bearings there-adjacent to be urged downwardlyinto the casings whereby the members 58 of these side bearings develop friction resistance at 14 and at the same time urge associated wedges 48 downwardly along webs 52 whereupon friction develop-s at 56 and between surfaces 54 and 56.

. Downward movement of these wedges 48 further of the shoes provides increased retardation tol the downward movement of the related truck bolster thus affording greater than normal resistance to downward movement of the descending end of the car truck. It will be observed that when this downwardly moving end of the car body moves upwardly, the pressure on the fric: tion system is reduced because of the outward movement of the affected side bearing members 58. This feature permits ready recovery of the associated end of the vehicle to normal position. A novel feature of this invention is that it provides for lower pressures to act on the friction shoes to control normal bolster movements so that wear between the columns and the'shoes and between the shoes and the bolster is substantially reduced. Furthermore, common springs act between the friction shoes and the side bearing mechanism. I

When the car body angles laterally, the down moving side of the car body actuates the side bearings in the path thereof which in turn causes greater pressure on the related shoes against the associated side frame to resist this movement of the car body.

Referring now to Figure 5 wherein parts similar to those in the previous embodiment are identified by corresponding reference numerals. It will be seen that the construction differs over the previous one in that ,a two piece wedge and side bearing construction shown in the previous embodiment is substituted by a one piece construction comprising a side bearing plunger member mi), which is formed at its lower end with a wedge surface I102 sloping downwardly toward the outboard side 14 of the member 146. The surface Hi2 engages a complementary diagonal surface on the'top side of the web 52 of the bolster 24. The spring seats 46 are formed adjacent the lateral edges of the member Mat the lower end of'its outboard side )4 for seating the inner ends of the springs '44, '44, suitable positioning means 45 being provided centrally of each seat 46. It will be seen that in the normal fully extended position'of the sidebearing the member Hi6 seats onits inboard side H38 against the inner face H0 of the inboard wall 82 of the casing '80. The member lilil may be loosely retainedm assembly with the casing Gil by means of a pin and key assembly H2 which may extend through'openings H4 and H4 in'the outboard and inboard walls 64 and 62 of "the casing 64 and through anopening l l8 extendin transversely through frictional resistance between surfaces responding reference numerals, the present embodiment diflers from those previously shown only in the manner of wedging relationship between the wedge and the side bearing. In the present instance the wedge member I50 is substantially triangular shaped in end view and has a downwardly sloping diagonal wall I52 engaging on itsbottom side as at I54 with the top side of the wall 62 of the bolster 20. The bottom side of the wall I52 and the top side of wall 52 slope downwardly in a direction outboardly ofthe bolster. The upper end of wall I52 merges with the lower end of a diagonal wall I56 of the wedge member I50, the wall I56 sloping downwardly in a direction inboardly of the bolster, preferably at an obtuse angle with respect to the portion of the wedge surface 5| above the surface I54. The top side of the wall I56 provides a wedge surface I58 which engages a complementary wedge surface I60 on the bottom end of a side bearing plunger member I62. It will be noted that the surfaces I58 and I60 slope downwardlyinboardly of the bolster and extend transversely of the bolster. The lower and upper ends of walls I52 and I56 merge respectively with the bottom and top sections of a spring seat wall I6I, the spring seat wall I6I presenting a spring seat area I64 adjacent each end of the wedge member I50. The surfaces I64 are similar to the surfaces 46 on the wedge 48 in Figure 2. Each area I64 has a spring-positioning lug I66 formed centrally thereof for positioning the adjacent end of the related actuating spring 44 (not shown).,

In the present embodiment .the upper end of the wedge I60 is formed to abut as at I68 against the underside of the top wall 22 of the bolster. This arrangement limits the movement of wedge member I58 inboardly of the bolster along the wall 52 under the urging of the associated springs 44.

The member I62 is preferably cored out as at I69 to define a hollow structure and has its inboard side Il0 frictionally engaging the inner side I12 of the inboard wall 62 of the casing 60. It will be seen that downward movement of the member I62 is resisted not only by the resistance in the springs 44 to compression but also by the and I54, between surfaces I58 and I60, and between surfaces I170 and I'I2. It will be understood that the abutment at I68 between the wedge member I50 and the top wall I52 of the bolster limits the upward movement of the side bearing member I62.

It will be understood that the remaining construction of the device fragmentarily shown in Figure 6 is identical with that shown in the previous embodiments.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figures 7 through 10 wherein parts identical with those in the previous embodiments are identified with the same reference numerals, the friction shoes, generally indicated 200, are modified and are preferably of hollow construction. As best seen in Figure 9, each shoe'comprises top and bottom walls 282 and 204 interconnected along one of their edges by a friction wall .206 and at their other edges by a wedge wall 208. The walls 208 and 206 converge toward the outboard extremity of the bolster. The inboard end of the shoe is provided with a substantially vertical spring seat wall 2I8 which merges with the adjacent edges of the other walls on the shoe.

The shoe wall 208 also slopes downwardly toward the longitudinal vertical center planeof the bolster and engages a similar sloping wall 2I2 of the bolster, the wall' 2 I 2 mergingat its upper and lower edges with the top and bottom walls 22 and I8 of the bolster. The wall 2I2 also converges in a horizontal plane, as shown in Figure 10, with respect to the longitudinal vertical center plane A-A of the bolster in a direction inboardly of the bolster. the shoe under the urging of the related spring 44 to engage on its wall 206 as at 2I4 with the adjacent friction panel 38. Simultaneously the wall 208 engages as at 2 I 6 the related wall 2 I 2 whereby the shoe is urged downwardly so that the flat bottom surface 2I8 on the bottom of wall 204 of the shoe engages a similar surface 220 on the top side of the bottom wall I 8 of the bolster. This arrangement is designed to prevent vertical oscillation of the shoe during u and down movements of the bolster and thus prevent chattering. In addition the arrangement provides extensive frictional bearing areas between the shoe and the bolster to complement the action of the shoe actuating springs in resisting movements of the shoes into the bolster during movements of the bolster laterally thereof.

Th actuating spring 44 is located within the pocket 29 of the bolster and extends substantially horizontally andaxiallygenerally parallel to the longitudinal vertical center plane of the bolster. It will be seen that the outer end of each spring 44 seats against the spring seat wall 2I0 of the related shoe and that the inner end of each spring 44 seats against the outboard substantially vertical side 222 of a wedge 224.

The wedge 224 comprises a diagonal surface 226 (Figured) on its inboard side in engagement with a complementary surface 5| on the wall 52 of the bolster 26. The wedge 224 also has one of its lateral sides 228 in engagement with the inner side 23:} of the adjacent side wall 24 of the bolster. The top side of the wedge 224 is provided with a diagonal surface 282which slopes downwardly from the side 228 transversely of the bolster toward the longitudinal vertical center plane of the bolster. It will be understood that the arrangement shown in Figure 10 is preferably duplicated on the opposite side of the plane AA and that the present arrangement features two wedges 224, one at each side of the bolster. The surface 232 of each wedge 224 is in complementary engagement with a surface 234 on the bottom end of a side bearing plunger member 236, the upper end of the member 236 being formed and arranged for contact with the body bolster side bearing as in the previous arrangements.

The side bearing plunger member 236 extends through the box or casing 60, and it will be seen that the surfaces 234 are formed adjacent opposite lateral edges of the member 236 and that these surfaces converge downwardly toward the longitudinal vertical center plane of the bolster. In the present embodiment the construction of the surfaces 234 and 232 causes the wedges 224 at opposite sides of the bolster to be urged transversely of the bolster against the respective side walls 24 of the bolster while at the same time the surfaces 226 of these wedges engage the surface 5I of the bolster.

During operation of the device shown in Figures 7 to 10, downward movement of the'side bearing plunger member 236 is resisted by frictional action of the wedge members along the side walls of the bolster and along the wall 52 of the bolster. The construction also tends to position the side bearing member 236 transversely ofthebolster. ,The function of the present em- The present construction causes escapee;

bodimenti and of" those previously described is; generically the same in that the friction means are carried by the truck bolster and act between the body bolster and the side frame to control relative movements between the car body and" the truck and also between the truck bolster and the truck frame.

I claim:

1. Ina railway car truck, a side frame, atruck bolster spring supported therefrom, a body-bolster movably supported from the truck bolster, friction means carried bythe truck bolster and engageablewith the side frame to snub relative movement between theside frame and truck bolster, a member carried by the truck bolster en-- gageable with the body bolster and movable in response to movement of the body bolster, and means in' the truck bolster including yieldable force transmitting means operatively interconnecting the member and the friction means to transmit movement of the member to the friction means.

2. In a railway car truck. a side frame, a truck bolster. spring-supported therefrom, a body bolster movably supported from the truck bolster, friction means carried by the truck bolster and engageable with the side frame to snub relative movement betweenthe. side frame and truck bolster, a member carried by the. truck bolster engageable with the body bolster and movable in. response to movement. of the body bolster, and. means in the truck bolster comprising wedge surfaces in the end portion of the truck bolster at eachside thereof converging inboardly of the truck bolster, a wedge face in the truck bolster inboardly of the surfaces, said friction means engaging, said surfaces and said member engaging said face, and spring means reacting between saidfriction means and said member for transmitting forces due to the movement of the mem bar. to the. friction means.

3... A railway car truck. according to claim 2, wherein said member extends upwardly through the. truck bolster and at its lower; end wedges directly with said face, and said face slopes down.- wardly toward the outboard end of the truck bolster and faces said surfaces.

4. In a railway car truck, a side frame, a truck. bolster spring supported therefrom, a body bolster'movably carried by the truck bolster, a side.

bearing member projecting upwardly from the. truck bolster for engagement with the body bolster, wedge means in the truck bolster; indirect engagementwith said side bearing member, friction means carried by the truok'bolster and en gaging the side frame, and spring means in the bolster arranged to coact between said wedge means and friction means to urge said'side bearing member. and wedge means in cooperative relameansalsocomprising. a diagonal surface on the. bolstersloping longitudinally of the: bolster: amt

engagingsaid-- bottom surfaceon said element,

and said' spring means acting substantially longitudinally-o-f thebolster.

6. A; railway-cartruck comprising a side frame with spaced friction surfaces, a truck bolster spring-supported from the frame between said surfaces, a body bolster movably supported from bolster acting directly between the body bolster and said surfaces, said friction assembly comprising: :a side bearing assembly projecting through the -top of said truck bolster and engageabl'e with the body bolster, said side bearing assembly-comprising a bearing member for contact withthe body bolster, a casing on the truck bolster-enclosing said member, and a wedge in wedge engagement with the truck bolster and said member, said member frictionally engaging oneside of thecasing.

7. A truck, according to claim 6, wherein said w-edge engages said member and truck bolster along converging wedge surfaces.

8.- A truck, according to claim 6, wherein said wedge engages said member and truck bolster along wedge surfaces sloping downwardly in the same direction at different angles.

A truck, according to'claim 6, wherein said wedge is splitinto two sections and each section frictionally engages a surface on the bolster extending longitudinally thereof.

10'. In a railway car truck, a side frame resiliently supporting a truck bolster adjacent. a column of? said side frame, a load bolster movably supported by the truck bolster, a side bearing assembly extending vertically through the truck bolster and transmitting downwardly diand. flexible. meansv directly engaging and positionedintermediate said assembly and said shoe.

and operative to. horizontally urge said shoe into frictional} engagement, with said column.

11. In-arailway car. truck, spaced columns fixedly, supported by aside frame, a truck bolster embraced therein, aload bolster movably carried thereby, Said truck bolster having downwardly and inwardly converging wedge surfaces adjacent its. end, another wedge surface inboardly of said. surfaces... friction shoes slidably contacting said converging wedge surfaces and in pressured engagement; with said. columns, side bearing memberssupported by said other. wedge surface and engaging said; load bolster, and springs interconnecting said members and said shoes and:

operative to vary the pressured engagement of saidcolumns in response to movement of said load bolster.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNJETED= STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,237,166- Burrmann 1 i Aug. 14, 1917 1,712,908.. Symingto-n May 14, 1929 1,788,130 Symington Jan. 6, 1931 1,888,940. Symington Nov. 22, 1932 2,403,045 Buckwalter July 2, 1945 2,444,009" Grigsby June 22, 1948'. 2,466,088" Endsley Apr. 5, 1949" 2,485,508 Pierce Oct. 18, 1949 2,485,974 L'ehrman Oct. 25, 1949' (3hristensoni; May 1; 1951' 

